It’s not a for-your-eyes-only secret that, despite this being such a wonderful city, filled with top scientists, educators and doers who try their best to overcome governmental myopia, many San Diego sports fans — myself included — live behind the oddball.

We know what we want and when we get what we want we don’t want it anymore.

A case in point is the job of Padres manager.

Since their birth in 1969, the Padres have had 16 skippers, including Jerry Coleman for one remarkable season and Bob Skinner for a less-than-remarkable day. Alvin Dark was fired during spring training. But since 1995, the ballclub has known two managers — Bruce Bochy, who served through 2006, and currently Buddy Black.

Now that’s the continuity new team ownership is talking about. And trust.

I don’t know how many “fire Bochy” emails I received over the years, but there probably were at least as many as the “fire Marty” and “fire Norv” missives, and that means thousands.

Then the Angry Villagers wanted Marty Schottenheimer back. I can’t recall one begging for Bochy’s return.

Bochy is a fine man and manager — he’s since guided the Giants to their only World Series title since their move from New York — but let me tell you, there was an agglomeration of fans who couldn’t stand him. For whatever reason. Never could figure it out. With Schottenheimer, Chargerites didn’t like his conservative play, and then they disliked Norv immediately, calling for the return of rah-rah Marty.

I love what San Diego State head football coach Rocky Long has to say about cheerleading coaches: “I think the rah-rah speech is ridiculous.”

Buddy Black is calm. Hardly rah-rah. But we don’t hear much about this from his critics (surely not nearly as much as we hear about Norv’s demeanor). And there shouldn’t be. Not that the detractors aren’t out there, blaming Black for everything that’s gone wrong, but next to Bochy, Black is Captain Kangaroo. For whatever reason. Can’t figure it out.

There is no knee jerk to new Padres ownership. Any speculation that Black will be relieved of command should cease. The bosses say it isn’t going to happen, and as I’ve discovered after 42 years in this business, bosses always have the final say, which is why they’re bosses.

There was some criticism of Black during April and May, when the Padres were the worst excuse for a baseball team I’ve seen here, when they couldn’t hit or field and injuries to the pitching staff, especially (try to win when you go through 15 starting pitchers), made it all but impossible to do much of anything.

But Black and General Manager Josh Byrnes banged heads and got rid of some players who were done — such as second baseman Orlando Hudson and shortstop Jason Bartlett — admitted a few mistakes in talent judgment, mixed and matched with young and old, signed some key players, and came up with a competitive team that has flourished in recent weeks.

The thing about Black — as was the case with Bochy — is that he always seems the same. He will get tossed from a game now and then, but the days of Leo Durocher, Billy Martin, Earl Weaver and Bobby Cox are gone. The Padres have known no manager better at pushing game buttons than Larry Bowa, but Bowa was so mercurial and unpredictable he seemed to scare the hell out of his players.

It doesn’t work anymore and it’s not how Black operates. He’s in command. He’s no pushover but isn’t a tyrant, either. If you have a complaint, look no further than Bud Black.

“You never hear a single excuse from Buddy,” says Padres CEO Tom Garfinkel, who just the other day called the notion of Black not returning “nonsense.” “He’s a proven leader, a knowledgeable baseball person, he knows his players and he knows the city. And, as we’ve seen, he’s been able to turn the fortunes of the team around, and it would have been easy for him to point fingers. It’s not an act. Buddy is a pro.

“There is no finger-pointing in the clubhouse. Not with Bud, not with Josh, not with anyone. We all respect one another. I let Josh do his job and Josh lets Buddy do his job. It’s a good situation.”

Byrnes and Black have known one another for a long time. Their relationship is very similar to the one Bochy and then-GM Kevin Towers (who obviously was forced to fire Bochy and hire Back) enjoyed here.

The day after Bochy was fired, I was on the phone with Towers, who was in his Petco Park office, and he paused, then said he was putting me on speaker. Bochy had just walked in and they were yukking it up.

Why was it not surprising? It appears Byrnes and Black share a similar page.

“People see Bud as a good guy, but he’s extremely competitive,” Byrnes says. “Look at the transition Buddy’s led us through after everything that happened to us this year, from our bad start to the change of ownership to all the injuries. Buddy never pouted. Buddy’s never wavered. He’s done a great job. He’s the one constant.”

Black has one more year on his contract, then there are options.

“That’s not a decision we’re mulling,” Byrnes says. “Maybe we’ll talk after the season. There are a lot of good things going on here. Buddy’s our manager. No doubt about that.”